


Looking at Old Pictures w/Uncle Geno

by NonstopCreatorOfNonsense



Series: Mal's Chaotic Life [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Aftertale Sans | Geno (Undertale), Alternate Universe, Bad Dreams, Brothers, Childhood, Childhood Memories, Comfort, Errortale Sans (Undertale), Family Bonding, Gen, Geno & Error & Fresh are brothers, Nightmares, Original Character(s), Originally Posted on Tumblr, Underfresh Sans (Undertale)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:47:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29953623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NonstopCreatorOfNonsense/pseuds/NonstopCreatorOfNonsense
Summary: Mal shows up on her uncle Geno's doorstep one night after having a really bad nightmare, and to help her calm down, he tells her some funny stories about his brothers when they were kids - complete with an envelope that contains photos from their school picture day. As she looks at these old photos, she almost has a hard time believing what she's seeing
Relationships: Aftertale Sans & Original Character, Geno Sans & Error Sans & Fresh Sans, Geno Sans & Original Character
Series: Mal's Chaotic Life [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2202798





	Looking at Old Pictures w/Uncle Geno

When the doorbell rang, it was precisely 4:24 in the morning. Geno pressed a hand to his mouth, muffling a yawn as he sat up in bed. He paused to stretch his arms, and then slowly stood, sliding his feet into his old, worn slippers before starting toward his bedroom door, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jacket. The doorbell rang a second time and he made a face. Whoever had the nerve to bother him at this hour was _really_ starting to irritate him already, and he hadn’t even made it to the front door yet. As someone began knocking on his door, he grumbled under his breath, clearly feeling less than enthused as he used a shortcut, his broken and damaged body warping to the place just before the closed - and locked - front door. Leaning closer and peeking through a tiny peephole, he arched a single brow bone.

It was Mal. Of all people…. What was she doing here so late at night? Did Necro and Zerif know that she took off? This only seemed like more trouble that he didn’t need, but he couldn’t find it in himself to turn her away. He swiftly unlocked the door and tugged it open, his voice still somewhat groggy sounding as he addressed her, “Oh, hey there kid. What are you doing he-” He was abruptly cut off as the teen tightly clenched her jaw shut and moved closer, wrapping her arms around him and clutching onto his jacket as she buried her face in his shoulder, muffling a soft sniffle. He hadn’t been expecting anything like this. Whatever had drawn out this side of her was definitely a cause for concern.

Now feeling much more awake and alert, he wrapped an arm around her, gently coaxing her back into the house with him before using his free hand to shut and relock the door behind her. Finally able to wrap his second arm around her as well, he heard her release a faint whimper and he frowned. Gently rubbing her back through the fabric of her sweater, he mumbled lowly, “Mal?… What’s wrong? Are you ok?…” The teen let out a tiny whimper again, her voice heavily muffled and barely audible, “I just… N-Nightmare again. I hurt… I _killed_ everyone.” Geno continued to frown, tilting his head, “You had a nightmare again?… Geez, that sounds like a pretty intense one too, at that.” Mal nodded, still clinging to him as he kept trying to soothingly rub her back, and he hesitated a few seconds before speaking again, “…Does your dad or Zerif know you’re here?” She shook her head, her voice now weaker than he’d ever heard it before, “No… I got scared, and I just needed _out_ of there. I just… _Ran.”_

The elder of the two sighed softly; perfect. She didn’t tell Necro or Zerif. That could only mean _even more_ trouble.

Speaking softly, he began to gently coax her to follow him to the sofa, “It’s ok, it’s ok… I promise. Why don’t we just sit down and take a breather? You don’t have to talk about it anymore unless you want to, ok?” Mal nodded again, following him without hesitation as he guided her to the sofa, sitting down and patting the cushion beside himself. The teen took the spot he’d just been patting almost immediately, lightly leaning against him and laying her head on his shoulder. Wrapping an arm around her shoulder and delicately stroking the top of her skull, he fell silent, unsure what to do. To his very minute surprise, it was her that broke the silence, mumbling, “I’m sorry… You’re probably gonna get in trouble now because of me, aren’t you?…” Geno sighed deeply, shaking his head, “Nah, don’t worry about it, buddy. Your dad won’t be happy, but I’m sure he’ll at least be relieved to know that you’re here and that you’re _safe_. Since it’s so late, you might as well crash here, then we can both go and talk to him tomorrow. Does that sound like an ok plan?”

Mal briefly glanced up at him and nodded, “Uh huh… I guess so.” Her uncle took a moment before replying, trying his best to read the look on her face, “Alright… Now, do you think you’ll be able to go back to sleep, at all?” Her sockets widened and she stared up at him, fear flickering in her gaze as she began to panic, “No. No, _please_ … I can’t. There’s no way. I _can’t_ go back to sleep, not after that nightmare I just had.” Although he felt a twinge of annoyance at the possibility of having to stay awake with her, he offered her a tiny smile in reassurance, “That’s ok. Just relax, alright? I’m not gonna force you to go to sleep. I have nightmares too, so I know how it goes.” The teen huddled as close to him as she could, the amount of fear that lingered on her face tugging at his soul; something about it reminded him of back when… No, now wasn’t the time for that.

He gently patted the top of her head, raising a brow bone and offering her a small smile again, “I’ll tell ya what. If you’re interested, there’s some funny stories I’d be willing to tell you, to maybe cheer you up a little.” Lifting a hand to rub her eye sockets, she hummed, “Yeah? What are they about?” Shrugging, mischief began to gradually overtake his gaze as he looked at her, “Oh, you know… Just Fresh and You-Know-Who, back when we were kids. Fresh used to make him cry _all the time_ without even _meaning_ to, and because of Fresh, I’m pretty sure he’s got a fear of furbies now.” Mal seemed to perk up a bit, tilting her head in curiosity, “…Huh? How’d Fresh manage that one? I thought that prick was only scared of people touching him.” Geno chuckled softly, “I won’t call him your dad because I know how you feel about that, but uh… Yeah. He used to be the biggest _crybaby_ I’d ever met. All it took was Fresh staring at him with these huge, emotionless sockets, holding out some furby he named ‘Avocado’. It was fine at first, but then Avocado spoke. You should’ve heard him _scream_ … He sounded like some kinda little girl, I swear.”

As a smile slowly spread across her face, the teen pressed a hand over her mouth, doing her best to refrain from laughing. Noticing this, Geno’s own grin widened and he continued, “And a long time ago, back in elementary school, he always had this bad habit of chewing on pencils. He started chewing on a pen one day and accidentally bit it a little too hard, and well… It was _picture day_. He got his picture taken, with not black, blue, or red ink all over himself, but with this _bright_ shade of pink. Not only did it stain his shirt, but for a while, the lower half of his face was stained pink too.” Mal’s smile widened behind her hand and she began to laugh softly. Arching a brow bone and smirking, Geno pulled away from his niece and leaned forward, digging through a drawer that was located just below the tabletop of the coffee table that’d been placed directly in front of the couch. She watched him curiously, and just before she got the chance to ask what he was doing, he produced an envelope, offering it to her. Visibly confused, she slowly took the envelope, seeming hesitant to open it, “Uh… What’s this for?” Waving off whatever concerns she might have, Geno only smiled again, “Open it and you’ll find out.” Though still not completely sure what to expect, Mal very carefully opened the envelope and pulled out three very old photographs.

The first was of Geno, dressed neatly and wearing a big smile, as if genuinely happy. She set his photo aside, blinking at the second picture. It was of some weird kid with a blank stare and some of the biggest, _gaudiest_ eyebrows she’d ever seen. Oh god. Was that…? She held up the picture and gave Geno a questioning look, to which he tilted his head, completely casual, “Fresh.” At the revelation, her sockets briefly widened, “What the _hell?._.. No way, I refuse to believe that.” Geno laughed softly at her reaction, “It is, though. Hard to believe, isn’t it?” Staring intently at the picture of Fresh, she seemed almost hesitant to look away, “What _happened_ to him? He was actually _really cute_ here. Now he’s just scary and unpredictable.” Geno shrugged, still smiling slightly, “I have no idea. I wondered the exact same thing for a while.” She let out a sigh, shaking her head in disbelief. Talk about weird. She set Fresh’s picture aside, beside the one she’d just seen of Geno. In her hands, the only picture that was left was of a rather small, delicate looking child. Black bones, familiar blue streaks down his cheekbones, and a pair of oversized, circular glasses. Down the front of his shirt, bright pink ink could be seen, but it didn’t stop there.

The bottom half of his face, just as Geno had told her before, was stained a vibrant pink.

She wanted to burst into a fit of giggles, but her laughter was cut off as she noticed his expression. His eyes were huge and he was frowning, blue tinted tears beginning to prick at the corners of his sockets. _As if he was being laughed at._ Memories flickered in her mind, of all the times when the boy in the photos, now a fully grown adult, berated her for not trying hard enough. Of when he called her names and constantly shoved her away when all she wanted was a hug. Of all the times he lashed out and _hurt her_ because she’d gotten too close or unintentionally irritated him.

All the guilt and empathy that’d begun to blossom in her soul upon seeing the expression on his face in the photograph rapidly melted away and she burst into laughter, a smile stretching across her own face. She tried to picture him as he was now, as an adult, but stained pink just as he’d been in the picture, and tears pricked at her sockets as she laughed even harder. Part of her felt bad and wanted to understand how he must’ve felt when that photo was taken, but at the same time, she couldn’t find it in herself to care about the feelings of someone that’d only ever reduced her to a fraction of who she _really_ was.

She was feeling conflicted but did her best to hide it with laughter. Geno probably could tell what she was up to, but at the moment, she really didn’t care.


End file.
